BY VICTOR REYES and JED MACAPAGAL
“KARDING” left some P1.9 billion worth of damage to agriculture in six regions, with the bulk in Central Luzon alone, while the number of fatalities from the super typhoon rose to 10 yesterday.
This developed as the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Central Luzon said the towns of Dingalan in Aurora and Macabebe in Bulacan have also declared state of calamity. Earlier, the province of Nueva Ecija and Concepcion town in Tarlac declared a state of calamity because of damage from Karding which exited the country on Monday night.
Yesterday, a low pressure area east of extreme northern Luzon intensified into a tropical depression, and was given the name “Luis.”
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Luis is not expected to make landfall although its trough or extension will bring rains to the Eastern Visayas and Caraga regions. Luis was forecast to exit today.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said eight people died in the region, including the five Bulacan rescue workers who drowned during a rescue mission in San Miguel town last Monday.
The NDRRMC said two of the three other fatalities in Central Luzon died of drowning in Cabangan town in Zambales and Baliuag town in Bulacan. The third died in a motorcycle accident in San Felipe town in Zambales.
But the OCD Central Luzon said only seven died in the region — six in Bulacan and one in Zambales.
The ninth death reported by the NDRRMC perished in a landslide in Burdeos town in Quezon. The 10th died of drowning in Tanay town in Rizal, the NDRRMC said.
The Department of Agriculture’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center said initial cost of damage to the agriculture sector was at P1.97 billion as of 9 a.m. yesterday. The figure covers six regions — Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Bicol.
It said the damage is equivalent to 114,446 metric tons of goods tended by 88,520 farmers and fisherfolk in 148,446 hectares (ha) of affected areas.
Bulk of Karding’s damage is from rice at P1.61 billion, followed by high-value crops at P271.6 million, corn with P43.1 million, fisheries at P41.8 million and livestock and poultry at P7.3 million.
The OCD Central Luzon said damage to agriculture in Central Luzon alone was placed at P1.67 billion, with the cost of damage to rice at P1.54 billion.
Damage to corn was placed P19.72 million, high-value commercial crops at P110.5 million and livestock at P7.3 million, the OCD Central Luzon said in a situation report yesterday.
This is on top of 18,249 houses that were reported by the agency to have been damaged by Karding in Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales.
The OCD Central Luzon said 163,076 families or 588,755 individuals from 729 barangays in Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales were affected by Karding.
Of the number, 2,576 families or 10,610 individuals were still inside evacuation 119 centers. It said 2,021 other families or 8,894 individuals were also displaced but are outside evacuation centers, staying with their relatives and friends.
AFFECTED FAMILIES
The OCD Calabarzon said 10,175 families or 40,937 individuals were affected by Karding in 384 barangays the region.
Of the number, 9,921 families or 39,594 individuals took shelter in 473 evacuation centers and 2,131 other families or 9,283 individuals sought refuge in the house of their relatives and friends.
It reported an P86.8 million damage to agriculture and a P350,000 damage to irrigation.
OCD Calabarzon said it has yet to receive reports of damaged houses though local government officials of Quezon have earlier said many houses and classrooms were damaged by the typhoon in the province.
NDRRMC spokesman Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said the NDRRMC has only accounted P1.29 billion in damage to agriculture in the affected Luzon regions, which is low compared P1.67 billion agricultural damage reported by OCD Central Luzon in the region.
Alejandro said some 82,158 farmers have been affected by the typhoon.
The NDRRMC placed the initial cost of damage to infrastructure in Ilocos, Mimaropa and Cordillera Administrative Region at P19.6 million.
Alejandro said many areas in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Pampanga were still flooded as of yesterday.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said some P28.5 million worth of assistance, including food packs, has been provided to Karding-affected areas.
Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo said many of the evacuees, especially from Calabarzon, have started to go home and repairs in their houses. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
